1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming device management system and method which provide remote maintenance of image forming devices, such as copiers, facsimiles and printers, that are installed at customer premises.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming device management system in which a center system at a center location provides remote maintenance of a plurality of image forming devices, such as printers, copiers, facsimiles and printing presses, at customer premises through a public switched telephone network (PSTN) is known. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications No.8-331267 and No.10-217580 disclose the image forming device management system of this type.
The image forming device management system of the above type generally includes a customer premise system and a center system which are linked together by the PSTN. In the customer premise system, a plurality of image forming devices are connected onto a local area network (LAN) at the customer premises, and a management apparatus for managing the image forming devices is connected onto the LAN. In the center system, a plurality of clients and a server are connected onto a LAN at the central location.
A conventional method for providing remote maintenance of the image forming devices on the LAN, such as failure message or remote parameter setting, requires the installation of an additional communication path (or a wired or non-wired communication line) which is different from the communication path provided for the LAN. Further, in the conventional method, each of the image forming devices on the LAN in the customer premise system requires the addition of a communication interface unit (the hardware or the firmware) which allows the image forming device to be connected to the PSTN.
If a wired communication line is installed in one of the image forming devices in the customer premise system, the cost of the installation of the wired communication line is further needed in addition to the cost of the installation of the LAN. If a non-wired communication line is installed in one of the image forming devices, the image forming device requires the incorporation of a radio device that allows the image forming device to be connected to the PSTN. Both cases will significantly increase the cost of facilities installation and the cost of communications. Further, the restrictions of the installation of the plurality of image forming devices in the customer premise system are accompanied, and such will deteriorate the quality of communication of failure messages between the center system and the customer premise system due to the facilities environment of the customer premise system.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No.8-331267 discloses a remote maintenance method for the image forming devices on the LAN. This remote maintenance method requires the installation of an additional communication path which is different from the communication path provided for the LAN. Further, in this conventional method, each of the image forming devices requires the addition of a communication interface unit which allows the image forming device to be connected to the PSTN. This will significantly increase the cost of facilities installation and the cost of communications.
Further, in the conventional method, when a failure occurs in any of the image forming devices on the LAN, the operator in the customer premise system may perform a local remedy on the failing image forming device by himself, or may notify the center system of the failure by a telephone call. This will place a heavy workload on the operator. It is desired to provide, with low cost and high reliability, remote maintenance of the image forming devices at the customer premises from the center location Further, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No.10-217580 discloses a maintenance method for the image forming devices. This maintenance method requires that an electronic mail address provided for sending a service call thereto be maintained with respect to each of the image forming devices. When the updating or maintenance of the e/mail addresses of the individual image forming devices is needed, the workload for the updating or maintenance will be significantly increased and the occurrence of an error of the updating will be highly possible. This will significantly increase the cost of facilities installation and the cost of communications.
FIG. 18 shows the arrangement of a conventional image forming device management system.
As shown in FIG. 18, in the conventional image forming device management system, one of the plurality of image forming devices 100 on the LAN at the customer premises is connected through a communication adapter 200 to the PSTN. In this arrangement, the image forming device 100 of interest generally includes an LAN interface unit (LAN I/F) 100A, a controller (CNTL) 100B, a mechanical unit (MECHA) 100C, and a communication interface unit (COMM I/F) 100D. In order to connect the image forming device 100 through the communication adapter 200 to the PSTN, the image forming device 100 requires the communication interface unit 100D.
In the conventional image forming device management system of FIG. 18, when a management device 300 for management of the plurality of image forming devices 100 is provided on the LAN, it is necessary to newly install another telephone line for the management device 300 that is different from the telephone lines installed for the image forming devices 100 connected through the communication adapters 200 to the PSTN. This will significantly increase the cost of facilities installation and the cost of communications.